Noel W. Anderson: American Symbols

Noel W. Anderson (b. 1982), Hands-Up, 2016, stretched Jacquard tapestries. Museum purchase, 2019.27.a-d.

Noel W Anderson (b1981 Louisville, KY) received an MFA from Indiana University in printmaking and an MFA from Yale University in sculpture. He is currently the Area Head of Printmaking in NYU’s Steinhardt Department of Art and Art Professions. In 2018, Anderson was awarded the NYFA artist fellowship grant and the prestigious Jerome Prize. His solo exhibition Blak Origin Moment debuted at the Contemporary Arts Center (Cincinnati) in February 2017, and the Hunter organized a new version of the exhibit for our venue in October 2019. The Hunter Museum acquired Hands Up following that exhibit and published an accompanying catalog.

Anderson utilizes print media and arts-based research to explore philosophical inquiry methodologies. He primarily focuses on the mediation of socially constructed images on identity formation as it relates to black masculinity and celebrity.

In his large tapestries, collaged magazine works, and other historical and contemporary printed media, Anderson distorts and transforms mass media images to demonstrate how symbols and imagery can be manipulated. His works explore how these manipulations can create conflicting definitions of Black people, culture, events, and understandings of identity – both self-understandings and external interpretations. By deliberately showing us distortions, Anderson is asking the viewer how they see things and in what ways are our opinions and perspectives are altered or influenced by what we see.

Students will look at how symbols and symbolic imagery is used to express thoughts or share opinions. Looking at the art of Noel Anderson, learners will consider how these images can be rearranged and combined with other symbols to change meanings and share personal ideas.

INSTRUCTIONS

What are symbols? How do we use symbols and where have you seen symbols used? How and why do artists use symbolism?

1. 1. How did you see symbols used in the various artwork in the galleries?
   2. How is symbolism used to provide information about an individual in a portrait? How is symbolism used to communicate other ideas within artwork?
   3. Introduce students to the studio project. Today students will create a collage that expresses their perception of America. What does America look like, feel like, mean to you?
   4. Discuss with the group the types of symbols they see daily (smiley faces, McDonald’s Arch, Apple Logo, even words) and the types of symbols they might use to represent their perception of America: a simple shape, a figure, lines or patterns of shapes, a merging/blend of symbols and words?
      • What does America look like to you?
      • What does America feel, sound, smell, taste like to you?
      • What does America mean to you?
      • How will you depict this vision with found images and words?
      • How will you incorporate these into a complete design?
   5. Have students take a large piece of paper and the provided materials to begin searching for their images. Students can combine pictures with letters to form words that express feelings associated with or connected to the answer to the lesson prompt. Using cut-out letters to form words replicates Anderson’s style of using anonymity to share an idea as an individual and as a society all at once.
      • Allow students time to find and cut out images, words, letters, etc.
   6. Suggest that students lay their images out and organize them in the way that best depicts their idea before gluing items to the page.
   7. Once students are satisfied with the layout of their work, have them glue the images to the page.
   8. Offer students a chance to share their symbols/logos and to explain why these items represent them.
   9. When about 10 minutes are left in class, ask students to finish up their collages and begin cleaning up the area around them.

Assessment

1. Ask if anyone would like to share their collage. Use the students’ work to review what they saw and talked about in the galleries and in the studio (review vocabulary).
2. Share student work online via #huntermuseum or send to cbespalec@huntermuseum.org

Student work from the Hunter (left), Noel Anderson, Slice, 2013 (right)

Noel Anderson, Wink, 2016 (below left) and Check the Skin (below right)  (courtesy of the artist’s website)